Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Oakland, CA -- Playing a pair of away games in their home park, the Academy of Art University put together 18 innings of hard-fought baseball, and with the exception of one rough inning in the nightcap, stayed right with their Laney College cohabitants Holy Names before ultimately coming up short. Josh Lopez picked up a tough loss in another strong start in the opener that the Knights lost 3-2. Yoshi Uemura couldn't make it out of the first inning in the second game but the ART U bullpen kept them in the game until a three-run seventh made it 8-2 in favor of the Hawks, which proved to be the final score. 

Lopez (1-3) took the mound for Academy of Art in the opener, and as he has all season, was around the plate all game, at one point throwing 23 of 26 pitches for strikes. Holy Names got on the board after back to back singles and a fielder's choice in the second, but one inning later the Knights tied the game back up when Daniel Gutierrez reached on a throwing error and scored on a double from Kalani Brackenridge to make it 1-1. 

The next inning, though, Lopez ran into trouble again, hitting the first batter and following that up with a single. After getting a flyout, first-baseman Matthew Farias singled in a run and catcher Scott Souza followed with one of his own to make it a 3-1 game. But again the Knights fought to stay in the game. Chucky Cavestany singled to lead off, moving to second on a groundout. Designated hitter Dante Redhead then worked a full count and doubled to left to get a run back, and it was 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

That would be it for both teams on the offensive end, as both pitchers settled in. Lopez would pitch into the seventh inning, stranding three runners on base from the fourth to the sixth before hitting a batter and surrendering a single to lead off the seventh. Aaron Garabedian came out of the bullpen and worked out of the jam, getting the first out when Ben Gamba tried to score on a wild pitch, as Cavestany threw to Garabedian to save the run. The senior pitcher then got a strikeout and a groundout to end the threat. But on the other side, Jayse Bannister (2-1) shut down the Knights for Holy Names. After they scored their run, Bannister didn't allow another baserunner, retiring the final 16 batters of the game.


Academy of Art drew first blood in the second game, even after starter Micah Ashburn (5-3) struck out the first two batters of the game. After taking two strikes, Chucky Cavestany, who was DH-ing in the second game, took a ball and then blasted his first career home run over the wall in left to give ART U a quick 1-0 lead. But Uemura struggled through the bottom of the first, even after getting the first batter out, walking the bases loaded and give up a single to tie the game. Drew Keeler quickly came in out of the bullpen and slowed down the rally, giving up a sacrifice fly but getting a ground ball to end the inning with ART U down 2-1. 

Both Ashburn and Keeler settled in, with neither team scoring again until the fifth. Keeler hit Daniel Catalan to lead off the inning, who went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Gamba walked, and Zach Verlaan knocked in a run with a single. Aaron Garabedian came in to his second game of the day and worked out of the inning after a walk to force in another run, and it was a 4-1 game. Yet once again the Knights forced the issue, with Cavestany again igniting a rally with a single. Daniel Skinner double to right-center, and Ryan Ramirez grounded out to knock in a run to make it 4-2. But Academy of Art couldn't score after that, and the game went on.

Against the Knights bullpen, the Hawks added to their lead. They got a run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly off of Brandon Poulson, and added three more in the seventh off of Paul Durbak, who got an out before walking two and hitting two more batters. Dylan Rodrigues came in to finish the inning but the damage was done. Things got a little testy between the two teams, as there were a total of four hit batsmen up to that point. When the Knights came up in the eighth down 8-2, that number increased, as Ricardo Torres hit both Ramirez and Kevin Decker back to back. 

After a warning was issued to both teams, the seventh hit batter of the game came in the bottom of the ninth, as HNU's Jared Carr hit Maclane Brady to lead off the ninth, resulting in the ejection of Carr and head coach John Carrion. But the Knights just couldn't get anything going after that, and Mark Scannell finished off the game to hand the Knights the second loss of the afternoon.

Cavestany had four hits on the day, going 3-for-4 in the second game with the homer, to raise his average to .342 on the season. Skinner also had a multi-hit day in the second game, as he and Cavestany combined for five of the six hits for the Knights in the capper. Matthew Smith was 3-for-3 with two runs scored in the second game while Scott Souza had two hits in the opener for the multi-hit games for Holy Names.

The two teams will play another doubleheader tomorrow with the Knights as the home team and the Hawks in the visitors dugout, with the first pitch scheduled at 12:00 PM.